Go 2 Guy: Snell has stuff, but he also has issues

JIM MOOR, Seattle Post-Intelligencer

By JIM MOORE, SPECIAL TO SEATTLEPI.COM

Published 10:00 pm, Wednesday, July 29, 2009

The Go 2 Guy also writes for 710Sports.com and kitsapsun.com. Reach Jim at jimmoorethego2guy@yahoo.com and follow him on Twitter as @cougsgo. He appears weekdays from 3 to 7 p.m. on "Danny, Dave and Moore" on 710 ESPN Seattle radio.

You'll love Jack Wilson, absolutely love him. Not because he's a great defensive shortstop and decent hitter. I'm basing it on his first news conference as a Mariner when he gave reporters a glimpse of who he is.

Acquired Wednesday in a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Wilson smiled a lot when he talked to us and said he'll be smiling a lot when he plays. He also said he'll be hustling whenever you see him because that's how his dad taught him to play the game.

That's the good news. Here's the possible down side to the deal -- I don't know if you'll love or even like Ian Snell, the other player the Mariners got from the Pirates. In Pittsburgh, I'm betting he's been called everything from a terrific pitcher to a piece of work.

The Mariners hope they get all of the former and none of the latter when Snell reports for duty with the Tacoma Rainiers. It sounds as if he'll make one or two starts with the Mariners' Triple-A affiliate before being called to Seattle.

The Internet rundown on Snell is lengthy. After reading about him, you could conclude that he's misunderstood and simply needs help to deal with bouts of depression and "demons" that caused him to contemplate suicide. Or you could say he's a head case. I'm guessing he's also been labeled an enigma because Snell is so talented yet so hard to figure out.

In Pittsburgh this season, the 27-year-old right-hander from Dover, Del., went 2-8 with a 5.36 ERA. He has 95 mph heat but lacks command -- already that sounds Brandon Morrow ominous.

Last month Snell actually asked to be sent down to Indianapolis, the Pirates' Triple-A affiliate. If this isn't a first in major-league baseball history, it must be a second -- how often does a big-leaguer want to be a minor-leaguer?

In Snell's case, he did, saying that he felt "too much negativity" from the fans, reporters, bloggers and the Pirates themselves. He apparently clashed with pitching coach Joe Kerrigan, and there were complaints that he nibbled too often and didn't attack the strike zone enough.

In various Web site and newspaper reports, Pirates GM Neal Huntington said Snell has not been able to block out criticism "for the better part of a year and a half." That reeks of Richie Sexson returneth.

Here's what caught the Mariners' attention -- on June 28 in his first start for Indianapolis, Snell struck out 17 of the 21 Toledo Mud Hens that he faced, including 13 in a row. In his six Triple-A starts, he has an ERA of 0.96, but Snell did not want to be promoted to Pittsburgh and go back to all of that negativity.

While in Indianapolis, Snell was interviewed by a local TV station and revealed that he'd been depressed and thought about suicide. That's troubling to hear.

When asked about Snell's depression and suicide comments, Zduriencik said: "I don't know about that, but we know he's a big-league athlete and a professional baseball player who's had success and fallen on difficult times recently.

"We're turning the page. This is Day 1, a new chapter in his life."

I also tried to ask Wilson about Snell's depression and suicide comments, but the news conference was abruptly and awkwardly ended by a Mariners PR staffer because of "time constraints" right when Wilson was ready to answer the question.

Earlier, Wilson said: "Ian's got some stuff, man. He can pitch, bottom line." Wilson also said that he spoke with Snell, and that Snell's excited "and I'm excited about him being excited."

It sounded as if Wilson had never seen him excited before in Pittsburgh. That's understandable -- it must have been awful to be a 26th-round draft pick who earned a paltry $3 million throwing baseballs every five days.

"We're hoping this is a change-of-scenery-type scenario," Zduriencik said. "Sometimes the same message with a new messenger is a good thing. … Maybe the kid gets into a winning environment and it helps him. And he's going to get a lot of help here."

Steve Hecht, the Mariners performance coach who specializes in mental training, just got another client. He can help, and Mariners fans can too by not ever booing the guy, I guess.

What the heck -- if Zduriencik made the deal for a thin-skinned pitcher who will have to be treated with kid gloves, I'm all for it. Which is another way of saying that I'm excited that Wilson's excited that Snell's excited to be here.